Police quickly tore down most of the tents but made no arrests, ignoring both angry taunts from some demonstrators and invitations to join the protest from others. Instead, they set up a perimeter around the park and subtly shifted their positions, squeezing protesters onto the sidewalk a few feet at a time.

As the predawn chill set in, the number of protesters dwindled noticeably.

Protesters decided to make a stand at their kitchen tent, which they called the Thunderdome, and set up a human chain around it. Police did not dismantle the final tent until after dawn had broken.

Police closed the park indefinitely early Friday morning. Hickenlooper said state workers needed time to clean up “squalid” messes. He also said protesters hacked into an underground electrical cable to run their kitchen equipment.

Occupy Denver protesters reassembled Friday afternoon in Civic Center Park, which is city property and out of the state’s jurisdiction. They began their meeting with a chant at state troopers, who were maintaining a heavy presence in Lincoln Park.

A riled-up crowd gathers on the steps of the state Capitol late Thursday night to confront State Patrol Chief James Wolfinbarger, who was attempting to hold a news conference. Wolfinbarger moved the conference inside the Capitol lobby after protesters crowded up the steps.

JOE HANEL/Durango Herald

A riled-up crowd gathers on the steps of the state Capitol late Thursday night to confront State Patrol Chief James Wolfinbarger, who was attempting to hold a news conference. Wolfinbarger moved the conference inside the Capitol lobby after protesters crowded up the steps.

A protest sign lies deserted after a crowd gathered on the state Capitol steps and then returned to the park across the street, site of the Occupy Denver protest. The sign turned out to be true – it was no secret among protesters that police, acting on orders from Gov. John Hickenlooper’s administration, planned to clear out the park early Friday morning.

JOE HANEL/Durango Herald

A protest sign lies deserted after a crowd gathered on the state Capitol steps and then returned to the park across the street, site of the Occupy Denver protest. The sign turned out to be true – it was no secret among protesters that police, acting on orders from Gov. John Hickenlooper’s administration, planned to clear out the park early Friday morning.